Box, Shipping

Object Name:

Box, Shipping

Object ID:

2011.007.08

Date:

1950-1955

Description:

Shipping box, for models of coffee mug/brewer (2011.007.03 and .04) invented by Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (1753-1814). Used for shipping the two models to and from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, MA, in the 1950s. Rectangular plywood box with removable cover. Black foam rubber cushioning inside. Removable cushioned plywood divider. Removable cushioned plywood support that fits inside mug 2011.007.03. Four brass machine screws to fasten cover. All sides of box and cover are covered with paper shipping labels in multiple layers, including labels from the Royal Institution in London and Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, MO. One end has typescript label: "[O]ne Rumford single-cup coffee [pot?] for Edwin H. Land, President, [American] Academy of Arts and Sciences, Ru[mford] Bicentennial". Other labels include "SHIPPED BY AIR EXPRESS", "FRAGILE / HANDLE WITH CARE", "GLASS/ HANDLE WITH CARE", "PRODUCE TO CUSTOMS AT SHIPMENT". Label on cover: "PROPERTY OF / American Academy / of Arts & Sciences / M.I.T. / Cambridge, Mass."

The two models are stored inside.

Material:

Wood

Dimensions:

H-7.3 W-5.8 L-10.8 Dia-0.9 inches

Provenance:

Used by author and M.I.T. professor Sanborn C. Brown for shipping two coffee mug/brewer models that he had made in the 1950s as aids to his study of Count Rumford's experiments and inventions. He was the author of numerous works about Rumford's life and inventions. Lois Wright Brown, the donor, is the widow of Sanborn C. Brown.

Born in Woburn, MA, Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (1753-1814) studied medicine and science while a youth working in a dry goods store. Marriage to the wealthy widow Sarah Walker Rolfe (1739-1792) of Concord in 1772 gave Thompson the leisure time to begin a life of scientific study and experimentation. With the outbreak of the American Revolution, Rumford, a Tory, left for England, where he became a soldier of fortune and scientist. An officer in the British Army, he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, commanding troops in battle against Americans. A prolific scientist, Count Rumford authored more than fifty essays on subjects ranging from heat and light to the formation and operation of charitable and scientific institutions. After the Revolution, Rumford lived in London, Munich, and Paris, where he served as a diplomat and soldier. He was knighted by King George III, but spent most of his life in service to Carl Theodore, elector of Bavaria, who made him a Count of the Holy Roman Empire.

Edwin Land was president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences from 1951 to 1954. The Rumford Bicentennial was in 1953.

Credit Line:

Gift of Lois Wright Brown

People:

Thompson, Benjamin (1753-1814)

Subjects:

Thompson, Benjamin, Inventions, Packing & shipping